U.S. Politics

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Sen. Franken (D-MN) ties gun control debate to violence committed by the mentally ill, says he works every day to further the late Sen. Wellstone's work on mental health issues, and tomorrow he will introduce a bill to improve mental health diagnosis in schools.

Professor Kopel attributes recent spate of mass shootings to "copycat effect," says that illustrates need for more protection in schools. Also mentions de-institutionalization of mentally ill, says that 50 years ago shooters like Loughner/Holmes/Lanza would have been civilly committed.

Andrew Goddard, (3L), Chairman of the Board of the National Gun Victims Action Council, whose son Colin was shot during the Virginia Tech massacre, puts his hand to his head as he listens to testimony during a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee about guns and violence on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 30, 2013. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Leahy, in closing of hearing: "I live an hour's drive from another country, Canada. I don't see the same problems there... I hope the committee can get together to mark up legislation next month and then take it to the floor... We have to listen to one another."

Kerry: "I do feel a certain wistfulness about leaving the United States Senate" as opposed to those who have left in frustration. "I do not believe the Senate is broken, certainly not the institution." Says there is nothing wrong with the Senate that cannot be fixed by what's right with it.

Chuck Hagel has told Congress that if confirmed as the next defense secretary he would ensure America's military is prepared to strike Iran if necessary but stressed the need to be "cautious and certain" when contemplating the use of force.

Hagel's views were detailed in 112 pages of written responses to wide-ranging questions by lawmakers submitted ahead of his confirmation hearing on Thursday. In them, he also voiced support for a steady U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan.

Top US senator denies sex tourism claim as FBI raids donor's offices by David Adams

MIAMI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat and incoming chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, denied on Wednesday allegations that he engaged in sex with prostitutes during free trips to the Dominican Republic provided by a political donor.

The denial from Menendez, who was re-elected to a second term last year, came as FBI agents searched the offices of a prominent South Florida eye doctor who is the donor linked to his alleged unpaid trips.

The FBI did not explain the motive for the raid on the offices of Dr. Salomon Melgen, 58, saying only that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” in the vicinity of the medical-office complex where Melgen’s West Palm Beach eye clinic is located.

The sprawling light-blue office building, usually buzzing with customers from Melgen's booming practice, was cordoned off on Wednesday as news crews stood watch outside. Investigators had been inside the building through the night, and at about 2:30 p.m. agents loaded dozens of cardboard boxes into a white government van.

The Dominican-born Melgen did not immediately return a phone call from Reuters seeking comment.

Melgen’s name has been linked in recent months to unsubstantiated reports, first published on the conservative Daily Caller website, that he provided Menendez with free trips aboard his private plane to the Dominican Republic where Menendez allegedly engaged in sex with underage prostitutes.

“Dr. Melgen has been a friend and political supporter of Senator Menendez for many years," Menendez's press office said in a emailed statement.

"Senator Menendez has traveled on Dr. Melgen’s plane on three occasions, all of which have been paid for and reported appropriately. Any allegations of engaging with prostitutes are manufactured by a politically-motivated right-wing blog and are false.”

Melgen is a longtime contributor to numerous political campaigns, including Menendez's, totaling $393,000 since 1998.

He has an outstanding lien of $11.1 million from the Internal Revenue Service for taxes owed between 2006 and 2009, according to records obtained from the Palm Beach County recorder's office.

Melgen fell victim to a Ponzi scheme in 2004 in which he lost $15 million, according to court documents.

In a letter to the Department of Justice in July last year, Washington-based political watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) requested that the FBI investigate “whether Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) engaged in sex tourism by engaging in illicit sexual acts with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.”

The letter, which was provided to Reuters by CREW, also asked the FBI to investigate if Menendez “solicited the services of a prostitute in Florida” and whether he violated the Mann Act banning the interstate trafficking of women for prostitution.

CREW’s director said the watchdog group began looking into the Melgen-Menendez connection after receiving email messages last year from a man calling himself Peter Williams, who claimed to have information that Menendez had been traveling to the Dominican Republic with Melgen, using Melgen’s private jet and staying at Melgen’s Dominican homes in La Romana and the capital, Santo Domingo.

CREW's director Melanie Sloan said Williams refused to meet with or speak to CREW and she grew increasingly “skeptical” about the source, fearing that it might be a smear campaign by political enemies of Menendez.

"We don’t know who Williams is, or even if that’s his real name. So we decided to forward all the emails to the FBI.”

(Reporting by David Adams; Additional reporting by Emily J. Minor in West Palm Beach and Kevin Gray in Miami; Editing by Tom Brown)

Chuck Hagel will face tough questions on Pentagon spending cuts and U.S. relations with Israel and Iran on Thursday as he faces a deeply skeptical Senate panel considering his nomination to be President Barack Obama's next secretary of defense.

Another member of Obama's second-term national security team, Senator John Kerry, sailed through his confirmation before being receiving the Senate's overwhelming support on Tuesday.

But Hagel, a former Republican senator and decorated Vietnam War veteran who broke with his party over the Iraq War, can expect a much more confrontational hearing when he is grilled on a range of issues by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Although most observers expect Hagel will eventually be confirmed - barring unexpected fireworks at the hearing - Thursday's testimony will be contentious.

Pre-hearing bustle (there seemed to be a protestor ushered out already) gives way to Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) opening the hearing. Notes that if confirmed, Hagel would be the first Vietnam War veteran to serve as defense secretary.

Inhofe says that Hagel's willingness to "walk back" his prior positions is also troubling, particularly on Israel, Iran and nuclear arms. Asserts his belief that Hagel is the wrong nominee for defense at a perilous time for the country.

Senate Armed Services Committee Charirman Carl Levin (D-MI) shakes hands with former Senator Chuck Hagel (R) (R-NE) AS he arrives for a committee hearing on his nomination to be Defense Secretary, on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 31, 2013. Hagel, 66, is a decorated Vietnam War veteran and a former two-term Republican senator. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Nunn is the first of two former Senate Armed Services Committee chairs set to introduce Hagel before his testimony (before the same committee). Next up is John Warner, the Republican to Nunn's Democrat.

Nunn mentioned this statement by two retired generals and two ambassadors who wrote a report with Hagel calling for nuclear weapons reductions that has been attacked by conservatives as a dangerous winding down of the American nuclear program. The statement says, "Any suggestions that our positions on nuclear weapons are unilateralist or would somehow weaken the United States are wrong and irresponsible."

Warner mentions smooth confirmation process of John Kerry, draws parallels between his Vietnam experience and Hagel's. Calls them a "band of brothers" with bonds forged in war, suggests this would serve them well in State / Defense collaborations.

WASHINGTON - Chuck Hagel said he backed the U.S. policy of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as he testified on Thursday before a skeptical Senate panel considering his nomination to be President Barack Obama's next secretary of defense.

Hagel, a former Republican senator and decorated Vietnam veteran, broadly defended his record on national security issues after a public campaign against his nomination by critics seeking to portray him as soft on Iran and anti-Israel.

"No one individual vote, quote, or statement defines me, my beliefs, or my record," Hagel told the lawmakers in prepared remarks. "My overall worldview has never changed: that America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world."

WASHINGTON - Chuck Hagel, named to be President Barack Obama's defense chief, on Thursday told a skeptical Senate panel considering his nomination that he backs U.S. policy of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and supports a strong Israeli military.

Critics in Congress have sought to portray Hagel, a former Republican senator and decorated Vietnam war veteran, as a soft on Iran and anti-Israel, pointing to past comments that Hagel's supporters say were taken out of context or distorted.

WASHINGTON No negotiations can be held with North Korea until it improves its behavior, a White House official said on Wednesday, raising questions about U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's offer to begin talks with Pyongyang any time and without pre-conditions. | Video

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